New Mexican eateries to know

May 2, 2013

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Barrio Tequileria in Northside offers more than 70 kinds of tequila. / David Sorcher for The Enquirer

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Itís been about six months since I published a list of my Top 10 Mexican restaurants. But six months is a long time in the Mexican restaurant landscape. Here are six new Mexican/taco restaurants that have opened since then.

Northside has recently become the neighborhood for tacos. This makes sense. Tacos featured here are the Mexican street food-style kind in a soft corn tortilla with any kind of filling except ground beef and cheddar cheese. Theyíre cheap, delicious, and creative.

There are three taco joints along or near Hamilton Avenue, and they all have both indoor and outdoor space where you can eat them. But they each have their own particular features as well.

Barrio Tequileria

From the owner of taco truck Taco Azul, Barrio serves a variety of small soft tacos, burritos, a few appetizers and salads, as well as handmade margaritas. There are churros with chocolate sauce for dessert. The decorating scheme is inspired by the Day of the Dead, including welcoming skeletons in the window. Their big backyard party patio opens this weekend. Tacos are cheap but small, so order several for a meal -- and get the elote; grilled Mexican corn. Barrio is distinguished by its extensive list of tequilas -- there are 70. (Did you know there were that many kinds of tequila?)

Django Western Taco

The fish tacos are good; so are the shrimp, and they do a good job making veggie tacos with soy chorizo. Itís a nice space with windows all along the front on Hamilton Avenue and a nice vacation-y deck in back. If a few tacos donít fill you up, you should know about the Sheriffís Bowl. Taking a cue from Korean cuisine, this is served in a stone bowl, in this case a molcajete, which keeps the dish very hot for a long time. Itís a simple layering of sauteed squash, rice, shredded pork, and a fried egg on top.

Tacocracy

This taco stand is located in Northside International Airport, which isnít an airport, but never mind. Itís a small crafts mall with small stands selling vintage musical instruments/stereo equipment, bicycles, vintage clothes and crafted skin-care products. Thereís an art gallery in the bathroom and a courtyard beyond that. The tacos are excellent: I love the duck, the Korean BBQ, and the vegetarian mushroom varieties, in particular. There is no beer, though they do have Mexican Coke, and thereís nothing else but chips and salsa on the menu. But the tacos are plenty.

Chuy's

Well-done Mexican food from a Texas-based chain. They make their own corn tortillas in a corner of the dining room, so you know itís not a typical chain. The atmosphere is fun, with an Elvis shrine, a hubcap room, and happy-hour snacks served from the back of a Pontiac Star Chief. Good things to try: margaritas, chicka chicka boom-boom enchiladas, and fajitas.

Anita's Mexican Bar & Grill

There are so many Mexican restaurants that are independent serving more or less the same menu; with variation in quality and features, though, these are hard to actually discern in one visit. Anitaís in Fort Thomas seems to be a good version of this familiar type. I had carnitas there, big chunks of pork, cooked until both crispy and falling apart.

El Coyote Downtown

The original Anderson Township El Coyote has been serving Tex/Mex along with steaks and pork chops since 1983, when there were not a lot of Mexican restaurants in this part of the world. Their menu seems a little old-fashioned for Downtown, but if youíre looking for a place where you can get filled up, or if someone, but not everyone, has to have steak, hereís your place. Try the pork chops, the Mexican mac and cheese, and the mashed potatoes.